Television personality Nick Cannon promoted conspiracy theories regarding the Jewish people and praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on his podcast.
Cannon, 39, interviewed Richard Griffin, also known as Professor Griff from the Public Enemy rap group, on an episode of Cannon’s Class, the host’s YouTube talk show. It appears that the interview took place last year, but it gained attention over the weekend, days after Cannon reposted it to his page.
Early on in the 90-minute interview, the two agreed that they could not be anti-Semitic because Jewish people are not the real Semites and that black people are the real Semites.
“In order for me to be anti-Semitic, I’d have to be anti-black man, anti-black woman, anti-black people, anti-Africa, anti-all other people,” Griffin said.
“Because the Semitic people are black people,” Cannon added.
The conversation later turned to conspiracy theories about Jewish people controlling money and the banking system globally, a theory which the Anti-Defamation League says “has surfaced across the extremist spectrum.”
Cannon referenced “going as deep as the Rothschilds, centralized banking, the 13 families, the bloodlines that control everything — even outside of America.” He also argued that once people understand who the real Jewish people are, “it’s never hate speech. You can’t be anti-Semitic when we are the Semitic people. When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright.”
In other videos on his page, Cannon said of Farrakhan, who has repeatedly shared anti-Semitic statements through his own pulpit: “Every time I’ve heard him speak, it’s positive. It’s powerful. It’s uplifting. … For whatever reason, he’s been demonized.”
Cannon previously hosted Nation of Islam representative Minister Tony Muhammad on his podcast.
He posted a statement on Facebook on Monday following the backlash:
“Anyone who knows me knows that I have no hate in my heart nor malice intentions. I do not condone hate speech nor the spread of hateful rhetoric. We are living in a time when it is more important than ever to promote unity and understanding,” Cannon wrote before acknowledging that, “Black and Jewish communities have both faced enormous hatred, oppression persecution and prejudice for thousands of years.”
“I am an advocate for people’s voices to be heard openly, fairly and candidly,” he added. “In today’s conversation about anti-racism and social justice, I think we all — including myself — must continue educating one another and embrace uncomfortable conversations — it’s the only way we ALL get better. I encourage more healthy dialogue and welcome any experts, clergy, or spokespersons to any of my platforms to hold me accountable and correct me in any statement that I’ve made that has been projected as negative.”
The statement did not mention any particular comments during his interview with Griffin.
Griffin was a member of the hip-hop group Public Enemy until the late 1980s before he was kicked out after making a slew of anti-Semitic remarks.
In a 1989 interview with the Washington Post, he said, “The Jews are wicked. And we can prove this,” adding that they are responsible for “the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe.”
